Context

• The Global Hunger Index 2018, prepared jointly by global NGOs namely, Concern Worldwide (Ireland) and Welthungerhilfe (Germany), was released recently. It reflects data from 2013- 2017.
• It ranks India at 103 out of 119 countries, with hunger levels in the country categorized as “serious.” India’s ranking has dropped three places from last year.

About

• The Global Hunger Index(GHI) is a tool that measures and tracks hunger globally, by region, and by country based on several aspects of hungerassessing progress and setbacks in combating hunger. It then ranks countries by GHI score and compares current scores with past results.
• The Index ranks countries on a 100-point scale, with 0 being the best score (no hunger) and 100 being the worst, although neither of these extremes is reached in practice. Values from 0 to 9.9 reflect low hunger, values from 10.0 to 19.9 reflect moderate hunger, values from 20.0 to 34.9 indicate serious hunger, values from 35.0 to 49.9 reflect alarming hunger, and values of 50.0 or more reflect extremely alarming hunger levels.
• The GHI combines 4 component indicators as proportion of:
  • undernourished as a percentage of the population (the share of the population whose caloric intake is insufficient);
  • children under the age of five suffering from wasting(low weight for their height, reflecting acute under nutrition);
  • children under the age of five suffering from stunting(low height for their age, reflecting chronic under nutrition);
  • mortality rate of childrenunder the age of five (fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments).
• Besides presenting GHI scores, each year the GHI report includes an essay addressing one particular aspect of hunger. The 2018 report considers the issue of forced migration and hunger. These include focusing on those countries and groups of people who need the most support, providing long-term solutions for displaced people, and engaging in greater responsibility sharing at an international level.
• The GHI is designed to raise awareness and understanding of the struggle against hunger, provide a way to compare levels of hunger between countries and regions, and call attention to those areas of the world where hunger levels are highest and where the need for an additional effort to eliminate hunger is greatest.

Key Facts and Figures

World:

• In the countries included in the GHI, the share of the undernourished populationstood at 12.3 percent in 2015–2017, down from 17.6 percent in 1999–2001.
• Approximately 124 million people suffer from acute hunger, a striking increase from 80 million two years ago.
• About 151 million children are stunted and 51 million children are wasted across the globe.
• The under-five mortalityrate was 4.2 percent as of 2016, down from 8.1 percent in 2000.
• Child Wasting:Child wasting is high across South Asia, constituting a “critical public health emergency”, according to UN organisations.Also, child wasting in the region is associated with a low maternal body mass index, suggesting the need for a focus on the nutritional status of the mother during pregnancy. The only country with worse child wasting is war-torn South Sudan at 28%.
• Hard-won gains are being further threatened by conflict, climate change, poor governance, and a host of other challenges.

India

• Progress:India has shown improvement in three of the indicators over the comparable reference years. The percentage of undernourished people in the population has dropped from 18.2% in 2000 to 14.8% in 2018. The child mortality rate has halved from 9.2% to 4.3%, while child stunting has dropped from 54.2% to 38.4% over the same period. However, the prevalence of child wasting has actually worsened in comparison to previous reference years. It stood at 17.1% in 2000, and increased to 20% in 2005. In 2018, it stands at 21%.

Significance

• Reality Check: Despite evidence showing that real progress is possible, the root causes and complex realities of hunger are not being adequately tackled. In 2015 the world’s countries committed to achieving zero hunger by 2030 but are not on track to meet that goal.Globally, the level of hunger still falls into the “serious” category, despite improvement over the last two decades. The Index projects that at the current rate of progress, 50 countries will fail to reach the “low” hunger category by 2030. This puts the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 2, which aims to end hunger by 2030, in jeopardy

Learning Aid

The GHI dimensions and indicators :